23 of 365: Emptiness
On the suggestion that human existence is wholly contained within God’s reality
The Call:
Now I return to the text,
“And He is with you, wherever you are. (Qur’an 57:4)
But when I have ever left?
Ignorance is God’s prison.
Knowing is God’s palace.
We sleep in God’s consciousness.
We wake in God’s open hand.
We weep in God’s rain.
We laugh at God’s lightning.
Fighting and peacefulness
both take place within God.
Who are we then
in this complicated world-tangle
that is really just the single straight line
down at the beginning of Allah?
Nothing.
We are emptiness.
-rumi
The Response:
7 Whither shall I go from thy Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?
8 If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I lie down in hell, thou art there.
9 If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
10 Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me.
11 If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me, even the night shall be light about me.
12 Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee, but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.
-Psalm 139:7-12
(Geneva Bible)
of God’s inescapable presence, the containment of human experience within divine reality, and the transcendence of human distinctions in God’s unity. The passage’s poetic and introspective nature complements Rumi’s mystical tone, offering a biblical perspective on the same spiritual truths without the notions of a codified religion contrived by man.
Terry...thank you for your beautiful sharings. You are busy writing these days. 🙂🙏🏼
What really struck me was the line straight from God/Divine to us, human beings.
That there is everything, everywhere within our existence, within the presence of the Divine. To wholly know and live these truths feels a life well-lived, rich with experience negating or denying nothing.